This is Ginny. I wanted to share everything we have learned so far about Mia.
It has been so fun getting to know our new daughter these last few days. She has quite the personality!
She loves to take care of everyone. She helps me lay out the clothes for her and Ashlyn in the morning. If you haven't noticed both girls love to be matching. Speaking of matching clothes, our waitress at lunch asked if they were twins. Now that is funny! Unfortunately, I think we have run out of matching clothes:) She has a definite opinion on which headband she is going to wear and which headband Ashlyn will wear. I was told that she likes to be in charge. Fortunately, Ashlyn goes with the flow. She also will pick out the socks and underwear for both her and Ashlyn and lay everything out on the bed very neatly. Then she will get both of their shoes and lay those out as well.
Going along with taking care of everyone she loves to get everyone their orange juice at breakfast time. If she sees your cup is empty she will go and get you more. This morning she really wasn't eating but rather trying to keep everyone's glass of juice filled. I had to remind her to sit and eat.
In the morning, she will hurry us along because she wants to get to breakfast. Did I mention she loves to eat? She will gather everyones shoes and bring them to us. We get the hint:)
Also, as far as eating she will pretty much eat anything. She has been loving the watermelon at the breakfast buffet. The only problem is that her body is not use to so much variety and she ended up getting sick on the car ride and throwing up. She told our translator that it was because of all of the different foods she has been eating lately.
She is sharing. The first night we went to a Chinese buffet and filled her plate with lots of yummy food for her. Ashlyn skipped the buffet and opted to wait for a hot dog. Mia saw her empty plate and wanted to share her food.
She can be stubborn and determined. Most of the time she does everything you ask but every now and then she has another idea. This is when the language barrier becomes even more difficult.
Mia does not like to ride on people's shoulders especially if you are 6'4". Adam pulled her onto her shoulders and afterwards she didn't want anything to do with him. Fortuantely we had our translator with us who was able to help get it sorted out. It will be interesting once we get home and don't have a translator to fall back on.
She is very neat and tidy. She likes to have things picked up and put away. And when she puts things away she does it very meticulously. It will be interesting having her and Ashlyn share a room (maybe Mia will rub off on Ashlyn?).
She is a quick learner. Before getting her she had never used a Western toilet. Only squattie potties. If you are wondering what a squattie potty is.... it is a potty on the floor and you have to squat down to use it. Our guide told us that people here actually prefer squattie potties because that is what they are use to. In some public restrooms there will be one Western toilet and the rest will be squattie potties. She said no one will use the Western toilet and people will actually wait in line for a squattie potty while the Western toilet sits empty. In our hotel we have a Western toilet (thank goodness!) and Mia has now learned how to use it. Today when we were out and about we made a stop at a public restroom. Mia passed up the row of squattie potties to use the Western toilet. Smart girl!
She entertains herself. Each afternoon Ashlyn has taken a LONG nap and Mia has been able to keep herself busy. She will take paper and practice cutting it into small pieces (and of course she always cleans up those pieces). She will take her doll and completely undress it only to redress it and she will do this over and over. She also loves to play with play doh.
She likes to watch Chinese soap operas. Adam turned on a cartoon (which she loves cartoons too) but she wanted to change the channel and watch this soap opera. Adam told me that the foster mother had mentioned that she loves to watch dramas on tv and can follow the story line and will laugh and cry at appropriate times.
She has an amazing belly laugh. I don't think I have ever heard someone laugh as hard or as long as Mia. It is very easy to get her going. Ashlyn loves this and will have her in stitches pretty much all day. The only time Mia is quiet and not laughing is when Ashlyn is taking a nap.
She likes to sing. It is fun to hear her sing along to Chinese commercials and cartoon theme songs. We heard her sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in Chinese today. That was so cool! Also, she found the abc song on her leap pad and was playing it over and over trying to learn it.
The best thing we have learned about her is that she loves having a mama and a baba. It is the best feeling hearing mama come from her sweet voice. Now if I could only know the rest of what she is saying.....
It has been so fun getting to know our new daughter these last few days. She has quite the personality!
She loves to take care of everyone. She helps me lay out the clothes for her and Ashlyn in the morning. If you haven't noticed both girls love to be matching. Speaking of matching clothes, our waitress at lunch asked if they were twins. Now that is funny! Unfortunately, I think we have run out of matching clothes:) She has a definite opinion on which headband she is going to wear and which headband Ashlyn will wear. I was told that she likes to be in charge. Fortunately, Ashlyn goes with the flow. She also will pick out the socks and underwear for both her and Ashlyn and lay everything out on the bed very neatly. Then she will get both of their shoes and lay those out as well.
Going along with taking care of everyone she loves to get everyone their orange juice at breakfast time. If she sees your cup is empty she will go and get you more. This morning she really wasn't eating but rather trying to keep everyone's glass of juice filled. I had to remind her to sit and eat.
In the morning, she will hurry us along because she wants to get to breakfast. Did I mention she loves to eat? She will gather everyones shoes and bring them to us. We get the hint:)
Also, as far as eating she will pretty much eat anything. She has been loving the watermelon at the breakfast buffet. The only problem is that her body is not use to so much variety and she ended up getting sick on the car ride and throwing up. She told our translator that it was because of all of the different foods she has been eating lately.
She is sharing. The first night we went to a Chinese buffet and filled her plate with lots of yummy food for her. Ashlyn skipped the buffet and opted to wait for a hot dog. Mia saw her empty plate and wanted to share her food.
She can be stubborn and determined. Most of the time she does everything you ask but every now and then she has another idea. This is when the language barrier becomes even more difficult.
Mia does not like to ride on people's shoulders especially if you are 6'4". Adam pulled her onto her shoulders and afterwards she didn't want anything to do with him. Fortuantely we had our translator with us who was able to help get it sorted out. It will be interesting once we get home and don't have a translator to fall back on.
She is very neat and tidy. She likes to have things picked up and put away. And when she puts things away she does it very meticulously. It will be interesting having her and Ashlyn share a room (maybe Mia will rub off on Ashlyn?).
She is a quick learner. Before getting her she had never used a Western toilet. Only squattie potties. If you are wondering what a squattie potty is.... it is a potty on the floor and you have to squat down to use it. Our guide told us that people here actually prefer squattie potties because that is what they are use to. In some public restrooms there will be one Western toilet and the rest will be squattie potties. She said no one will use the Western toilet and people will actually wait in line for a squattie potty while the Western toilet sits empty. In our hotel we have a Western toilet (thank goodness!) and Mia has now learned how to use it. Today when we were out and about we made a stop at a public restroom. Mia passed up the row of squattie potties to use the Western toilet. Smart girl!
She entertains herself. Each afternoon Ashlyn has taken a LONG nap and Mia has been able to keep herself busy. She will take paper and practice cutting it into small pieces (and of course she always cleans up those pieces). She will take her doll and completely undress it only to redress it and she will do this over and over. She also loves to play with play doh.
She likes to watch Chinese soap operas. Adam turned on a cartoon (which she loves cartoons too) but she wanted to change the channel and watch this soap opera. Adam told me that the foster mother had mentioned that she loves to watch dramas on tv and can follow the story line and will laugh and cry at appropriate times.
She has an amazing belly laugh. I don't think I have ever heard someone laugh as hard or as long as Mia. It is very easy to get her going. Ashlyn loves this and will have her in stitches pretty much all day. The only time Mia is quiet and not laughing is when Ashlyn is taking a nap.
She likes to sing. It is fun to hear her sing along to Chinese commercials and cartoon theme songs. We heard her sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in Chinese today. That was so cool! Also, she found the abc song on her leap pad and was playing it over and over trying to learn it.
The best thing we have learned about her is that she loves having a mama and a baba. It is the best feeling hearing mama come from her sweet voice. Now if I could only know the rest of what she is saying.....
I was well into my adulthood before it dawned on me that "Twinkle, Twinkle..." and the "ABC" song were the same thing! ;^)
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